Esperanza Opaltree
Academic and Personal Career Esperanza has an unusual heritage, being half selkie and half human. Selkies are similar to Merpeople, but are less hostile, spending more time on land due to their shapeshifting abilities. Their aquatic form resembles a large seal, and when they transform into a humanoid they leave part of their skin behind, unable to shift back without it. This led to the unfortunate story of Esperanza’s parents. Her mother had fallen in love with her father but was unable to convince him to stay. Insisting on his continued presence, she hid his shed skin to prevent his departure. Unable to leave by sea and unwilling to abandon his shed skin behind he acquiesced to marriage. The couple moved in a house by the sea and Esperanza was born. But her father still longed for the ocean, and Esperanza’s earliest memory involved her father’s forlorn seaward gaze. When she was nine years old, Esperanza, playing under the house, an area expressly forbidden to her, came across what she thought was a coat. Far too big for her, she decided to give it to her father. She ran to the shore and quickly handed the gift to her father, but his reaction was different than anything she had expected. Had she done something terribly wrong? Why was he crying? He kneeled down, thanked her sincerely, and said goodbye. Then the most remarkable thing happened: he changed. Diving into the water, he reverted to his aquatic state for the first time in years. As he swam away he turned around one last time, waved, and was gone. He did visit Esperanza, in secret, but he never set foot on land again. Her mother simply refused to speak on the matter knowing she could easily be convicted of multiple crimes so Esperanza never got answers to any of her multiple questions. Eventually, Esperanza went to Hogwarts and discovered her love for all magical creatures, particularly aquatic life. Much to her surprise, she had the ability to communicate with sea creatures. Because of this and her natural talent with animals she excelled at any class involving magical creatures. She graduated and immediately went to work for the ministry’s Creature Protection Department. Her career quickly developed and she received promotions at an astounding rate. This brought ever more challenging tasks, and Esperanza overcame them with ease. On one mission, she met a charming broom maker. The two quickly fell in love and were married in less than a year. But their marriage struggled when some of her husband’s friends mentioned she made more money than he did. Understandably, she never thought of this as a concern, but her husband came from an affluent family, and this embarrassed them. Esperanza, desiring to do the right thing, slowly gave up on the job she loved so much, taking fewer and fewer high profile assignments in a desperate attempt to please the ego of her new set of friends. But it was to no avail, and their marriage ended in divorce. Depressed and hurt, Esperanza did something few have the courage to do; she decided to ‘start over’ with her life. She took a job teaching at Hogwarts, hoping the change would single a new beginning. Personal Life Although she is half selkie, she has no shape shifting abilities. She is, however, a phenomenal swimmer but a bit clumsy on land. She has a pet octopus named Octavia.